Is not the author completely irrelevant after the book is written?
Am I a selfish reader if i say yes? I do not think I am.
It is the same thing if I was writing myself. IE I ignore my audience when I write. Honestly I do not care if the read will understand me as long as my ideas are put out how I envisioned them. That way I continue to write for me. That way my reader can read what I write in two different ways. They can try and see it as I did. Or they can mine what ever meaning they need at the time out of my words. It will not offend me if I write about Bucky Balls and you see a charming story about a carbon atom on Christmas eve. I might even be impressed with your mind's creativity. It amazes me sometimes to actually be able to see things evolve. And if I wrote words with one idea in mind and you found something new that is evolution of a different sort then most people are used to.
On those same lines when I read a book I try and ignore everything I have heard about the author. I want to find my own meaning in their art. That is why I love reading new authors so much. My mind is not yet spoiled by some high school teacher or some review I read in a magazine or by some web site's listing of books that everyone should read.
In other news. I am totally hooked on Fair To Midland's "Dance of the manatee"
-roguemind 
On a side note: I seem to care deeply about things I probably should not when all things are considered. Then again I care about things(and I use the word "things" very loosely) that are actually important. Its just in some current situations the level of caring makes no sense to me. Not that caring is a bad thing. Makes me feel at a minimum.
